Week 23: Three kilos in one month

Went for another checkup - the doc saw me for about 5 minutes. I'm 53.5 kg now. "That's just about right," said the doc. "You mean I should be putting on more weight?" "Er, no."

Oops. Seems I've really been stuffing my face. I ate a lot in HK, granted. I eat a lot of fruit, and I cook dinners. I've completely ignored my highish cholesterol and eat quite a variety. I do have a daily habit of crisps at 5pm but I don't eat chocolate or sweets - mainly cos I feel funny after and the baby goes a bit beserk.

Waist measures 35 and a half inches. And I bought 36D bras at Tesco Lotus the other day. There's more cellulite on my thighs and I daren't look at my bum.

We bought a cot - our first big purchase for the baby. It comes with lots of blue-white bedding - far too nice for a baby to poo and puke on!


Weird dream no. 4:
oooh, this was the real Alien one. In the original Alien film, the baby alien bursts out of John Hurt's stomach. It's all gnashing bared teeth and eyeless head. It has a good hissing fit as it looks around before scampering off into the metalwork.
So in my dream, this baby alien is pushing through my stomach. My belly skin is stretched over it, so you can see the outline of its head and jaws trying to burst out of me. I have to keep pushing it back into my tummy, telling it to behave....

Flat whinge no. 645:
The floor in the main bedroom has started warping again. I say again - it was warped before we moved in 2 months ago and the problem was 'fixed', i.e. the cracks were papered over but the underlying problem, whatever it is, remains. Our ex-neighbours said that the previous tenants also had the same problem over a year ago, so this is nothing new to the landlord or the management.
The ensuite bathroom also smells peculiar - a dampish rotten smell. I am sure there is some connection.
Early this week, they finally dug the floor up - each clang of the chisel causing the baby to jump in alarm in my belly - to find a pasty, moist, concrete, gluey mess underneath. Yuk. Since then, I've had the manager Khun P. come in almost every day with a different 'guru' who hasn't a clue what the problem is.
Wait till you see how long this takes to sort out...

Week 22: Twinkle twinkle little star

Been having some really weird baby dreams.

1) A friend and I are pregnant at the same time. We're both giving birth (in record time) in the same room. She has a girl and I have a boy, but I'm absolutely certain the hospital's mixed the babies up and in fact the girl is MINE.
Now I feel guilty towards my baby boy.

2) I'm pretty advanced in pregnancy and the baby is pushing aggressively out of my belly so you can see the contours of his hands and feet through my skin. Alien anybody?
Well, the baby is in real life having stronger movements, usually at 6 am.

I went to another BAMBI session. This midwife was giving tips on baby calming. She said that new fathers suddenly work 30% harder at the office in the first few weeks after a baby is born! Like it's either bringing home the bacon, or rather, the whole lifestyle change becomes a bit too much.

At one point during the meeting, the babies were getting cranky and weepy. The midwife said it was because they weren't getting our attention so we should all give them some by singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The effect was astounding - all the babies spontaneously quietened down! Nice trick!

Fatt and I ventured into a BAMBI bring and buy sale. Apparently people are queuing and straining at the entrance an hour before it all starts. Baby stuff is pricey here - we're talking imports with 300% tax as they're classed as luxury items. So something like Mothercare which is good quality and reasonably priced in the UK, becomes the epitome of lavish spending here. We got there late and didn't really find anything to buy, but Fatt enjoyed the kiddie mayhem and got even more clucky at lunchtime as we watched a be-fringed Japanese toddler carefully bending over her rice bowl and spooning the contents into her mouth. Japanese kids are soooo cute.

Week 21: Strictly drawstring

The big news this week is that my brother and his wife will also have a boy! Like us, they couldn't wait to find out the sex of the baby. I'm pretty sure our due dates will be very close. Almost like twins! It'll be weird comparing the lives of two half-Chinese boys living on different parts of the globe. I hope they'll become firm and fast friends.

I've been feeling pretty good. The 2nd trimester is definitely the best time of pregnancy. Although... I obviously just look rather podgy. Nobody gives up their seat for me on the skytrain. My thighs are getting big. It's hard to fit into my pants. As for trousers - forget it. Strictly drawstring or elastic now!

I'm investigating having both my mum and my dad come over for the birth. My mum will obviously be a mega-help and comfort to me. My dad had a stroke last year and needs quite some looking after himself. But if he can make this trip, while he'll need help getting over here etc., I think it'll be a big boost to his self-confidence and to his state-of-mind.

And I'm keen that the little one knows his family right from the start. When I see my niece in London and all the love and attention and care she gets from both sides of the family, it makes me feel a little sad that our baby won't have that extended blessing unless we move back to the UK...

Week 20: Hong Kong Heaven again!

A lot happened this week:

Old friends
We met up with our old neighbours who have now moved to Singapore. They have a sweet baby boy. The wife, who is Indonesian, said that I should definitely go for a C-section as it was 'wonderful'.
Of course there are advantages to a C-section: avoiding a long painful labour, choosing a convenient time, not having your nether regions widened to a six-lane motorway and torn, cut, stitched.... but this is major surgery!

Hong Kong
It was marvellous to be back. Morning sickness had passed. The best thing was seeing old friends and cadging loads of freebie meals from them as a celebration of my bumptious state. It seemed I gained 2 kilos in the few days we were there.
Plus we were holed up in the Conrad. And I could shop at H&M's maternity section for cheapie trousers.
One of the best things was that I managed to catch the last day of my granddad's film exhibition. He was a famous director in Hong Kong, but to my shame, I haven't seen many of his flicks. Going to this cozy exhibition was fantastic - loads of people were there and the screenings had all sold out. Made me realise just how influential he'd been on HK/Taiwanese/Chinese cinema.

Gina Fording it
I saw another old friend in HK who'd just given birth. The mother is highly organised and was determined to do the Gina Ford method of getting the baby to sleep through the night. We're talking excel spreadsheets here!
The baby was very sweet. Only 3 weeks old but HUGE! The mother had had a C-section and been knocked out for it so one minute she had this big belly, the next, a baby had popped out.

The help
Hurray! The new maid started today. She is tiny, my age and burst in like an over-active mouse, eager to explore the apartment. She did a good job, so hopefully the start of a good working relationship. It's bliss not having to do the housework.
The maid asked if I was 6 months pregnant. I'm only four!

The baby
moves more when I eat sweet things. I sneezed in the middle of the night and he wriggled like crazy!
I had a very scary moment in HK though. We were trying to catch the Airport Express and went down the wrong escalator. Stupidly, I followed Fatt as he scampered up the escalator, and inevitably, I tripped. I fell on my side with my hand breaking my fall. I was OK, but upset. Full of shame, guilt and disbelief. We couldn't believe how stupid we'd been! How could we have put the baby at such risk?
I kept prodding my belly to see if he was okay. Didn't seem to be any response. Then, about an hour later, he started squirming away again. Thank God.
I love feeling him move inside of me. It's amazing. He tickles me with his twisting and turning, kicking and pummelling. Makes me laugh and feel happy.

Week 19: It's a ...........

....... boy!

No surprise really given Fatt's three younger brothers. Plus my Dad predicted it would be a boy (on a hunch) and my Mum predicted it would be a boy by asking about my pulse...

I think Fatt is a little disappointed. I'm making a huge generalisation here, but girls do tend to be a bit more caring towards their families their boys. But I don't care if it's a boy or a girl so long as he/she is healthy and happy.

So we switched hospitals and I chose a doc who'd learnt all his stuff in London. The hospital was seemingly chaotic and manic - people rushing here and there. The other one we'd been to was much calmer. On the other hand, this hospital made sure I saw the doc within 10 minutes. At the other one it was usually anything from 20 minutes to an hour.

This doc was great though - very frank, straightforward. None of the 'look it up on the internet' malarkey, or 'take a 4D scan at 7 weeks' rubbish. He did have an emergency to attend to though and so we checked out the birthing facilities.

There's only one natural birth unit. We asked what would happen if it was busy. The nurse looked puzzled and said it wouldn't be. This hospital, note, has a 70% C-section rate. Of course many of those are elective though.

We also passed a room full of tiny newborns with thatches of thick dark hair, swaddled tightly in a row of transparent cribs. They slept, yawned and mewed behind the silent glass. Awesome.

The doc did my '20-week' ultrasound. I'm officially 19 weeks but head and body measurements were coming up 21 weeks! I blame the big head on Fatt. When he checked the nether regions, "It's definitely a boy," he said.

As a freebie, he threw in about 20 seconds of 4D footage - where you get to see the baby in 3D plus movement i.e. video. At first it was hard to make out anything, but I gave my belly a gentle poke and that set the little blighter going. He started squirming and then banging his fists against me, as if to say 'get me out of here!'

It was a fantastic experience and I feel much more at ease to find a doc I can relate to.

Week 18: tap tap tap...

... is anybody there?

I've been feeling some pulsing movements quite low down my belly. Random taps here and there. Is it the baby? Usually first-timers feel these movements around 20 weeks, but if you're quite thin, then it can be earlier. My brother says it's the baby. They can already feel their's.

Yep, it's the baby. Fatt put his hand on my belly and the baby went kick/punch. It's quite an amazing experience, feeling this little entity fluttering around inside of you.

Another aspect of pregnancy: horrible dreams. I dreamt I was bleeding a lot down there and knew I desperately needed to get to a hospital. It was a relief to wake up.

Waist (though it doesn't look like I have any): 29 and a half inches.
Belly around the biggest part: 34 inches.

Week 17: RIP Tiny

The vet called to say Tiny had passed away in the night. She'd had a potter around in her cage, and then just went back in and laid down...

We're both very upset at this. I wonder if pregnancy hormones are making me more emotional, but I don't think so. She was a lovely dog, so sweet and affectionate. Can't believe that she's gone. Was it inevitable? Did we provoke it by taking her in or should we have left her on the streets? Were the antibiotics all too much? Hard to tell.

In Bhutan, they won't kill stray dogs because they believe that when a person dies, they are shown the way to heaven by a doggy with a light on its tail. Well, if we ever get to heaven, let's hope Tiny will be our doggy.

On other matters, the earth moved - literally! An earthquake in Laos caused tall buildings in Bangkok to shudder. I wasn't sure at first until Fatt phoned to tell me to get the hell out of the condo. Outside, the peaceful soi life continued: kids cycled on tricycles, students strolled and munched their noodles, the motorbike taxis zoomed with their passengers. I don't think they realised that a 6.2 earthquake had occurred in a neighbouring country.

On the pregnancy front, I'm feeling a bit fatter. The other day, this taxi driver dropped me off and ran to the passenger door to let me out. And where I teach, one of me ex-students said I was getting chubby. It's supposed to be a compliment by the way...